"mega data mega kaka" --A digital documentary of social, political, and cultural events. Commentary in the form of irony, lampoon, and diatribe.
"If it's not just people themselves, but their fathers and grandfathers and pretty well all past generations that have been led astray, it's not easy to root out their mistaken opinions today, however strong one's arguments" - Seneca

Saturday, November 11, 2006

The days bring news of the technocrats vying for power. Each side accuses the other of having no plan for Iraq. But what's a plan and who gets to define its objectives and methodology? The worst plans are compromise documents worked out without all interested parties--the people killing each other--getting involved. There can be no imposed peace just as democracy cannot be imposed.

I heard an Iraqi sociologist on the radio talk about American long-term interests in the region being hurt if the right plan is not drawn up. Jim Webb--perhaps the smartest guy on the subject right now--says the US should pull out soon, build no permanent bases, and let the Iraqis duke it out. Let the chips fall where they may.

When people talk about American interests, they usually mean oil. At least that's what those insiders who know mean. How far can the Democratic technocrats go away from this bottom-line issue without seeming to be wandering in la-la land? Yet, confronting the American public with the stark choices of energy policy is something few politicians will have the stomach for. But it's this type of honesty that's required to forestall future debacles in the Mideast not to mention the prospect of dark days for future generations.

N. T. Wright and the War on Terror It's not every day that a specialist scholar tries to adapt their views to real issues in the real world. How much so with NT biblical scholars. The bishop of Durham--and world-recognized scholar--Wright rightly does so, for better or worse. A little better than worse, I think.